October 29, 2007
Plasmas

Plasma – The state of matter that does not have a definite shape or volume and whose particles have broken apart.

Plasmas have some different properties from that of gas
  • Plasmas conduct electric current that gases don’t
  • Electric and magnetic fields affect plasma’s but not gases
  • Magnetic fields contain hot plasmas

Natural plasmas are found in lightning, fire, and aurora borealis


Plasmas are like gases, but the atoms are different because they are made up of free electrons and ions. Plasmas aren’t things you see everyday. If you have ever heard of the Northern Lights or auroras, you might know that those are types of plasmas. It takes a very special environment to keep plasmas going. They are different and unique from the other states of matter.


October 17, 2007
Clay boats floated because they had thinner walls and their sides were curved in. The average mass of the water displaced by a floating clay boat was around 10.7 grams. The boats displaced around 10 grams of water because we used 10 grams of clay. The sinking boat average was around 6.23 grams. The clay boats that sunk had thicker walls and weren’t curved in. The density of clay was 1.6 grams/ cm cubed, and yet, it still floated. Adjusting the shape of the boat depended on if the boat stayed afloat.


October 15, 2007
“The key to floating is that the object must displace an amount of water which is equal to its own weight”. The reasons why the one boat sunk and the other stayed afloat, is because the water flowed over the top of that one boat. Once the boat was filled up with water, it sunk. When the one boat filled up with water, the density of the water became heavier than the density of the clay, thus making it sink. The buoyant force also has to be equal with that objects weight. The clay boat had equal weight and buoyant force with the water, until it filled up with water. Once this happened, the weight was heavier than its buoyant force, making it sink. The main suspects include mass, density, weight, and buoyant force.


Property Gang

October 10, 2007
The data shows that there is no corralation in between mass and volume. The metal rod had a small amount of volume and yet, it had a very large mass for its size. Then there was the spacer, that had a very high amount of volume, but it's mass was not very high. The information stated above shows us that there was no corralation in between volume and mass. =)

October 9, 2007
Mass
-Amount of matter something is made of
-Use a triple beam balance
-Basic SI unit is grams
-The less mass the less inertia

Volume
-The amount of space something occupies
-Use a gradulated cylinder to find the volume of an irregular object
-Volume= length x width x heighth

Weight
-A measure of the gravitational force exerted on an object
- Measured in newtons

Mallability
-The ability of a substance to be pounded into thin sheets

Ductility
-The ability of a substance to be drawn or pulled into a wire

Density
-The amount of matter in a given space
-Density=mass/volume


October 3, 2007

The mass was conserved in this experiment. The masses of alchol and water measured seperately averaged to be about 45 grams and when massed together they were also about 45 grams. Our group actually had no change in mass. This shows that mass was conserved.